Musician turns passion into a career

Published: Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 23, 2013 at 8:25 p.m.

More than a dozen years after Ed Carrasquillo saw his first drum circle, the local has artist decided to turn his hobby of making the instruments into a business.

“I came to a point where I realized I had a better opportunity working for myself than I would to try to get a job at 52 anywhere in the state, so I went full strum into (Tribalscapes Music Factory) drums,” Carrasquillo said.

TMF specializes in making cajóns and hand drums. The cajón is a Peruvian wooden box drum in which the player sits on the drum while playing.

Carrasquillo has been very active in the hand-drumming community since 2000, when a friend invited him to his first drum circle in Florida.

“For me it was really more like a spiritual event and I felt very, very comfortable there,” Carrasquillo said.

After the drum circle, he ordered his first drum online from Ghana and has been experimenting with the instruments ever since.

Carrasquillo has an extensive background in art and lived as a performance artist for 15 years. He toured his show “The dreamscapes experience” around Florida and spent a few months preforming in Las Vegas. During the show he would paint celestial scenes in front of an audience while playing music.

His transition from the world of art to music came from an unexpected diagnosis while he was still preforming.

“I started to go blind basically,” Carrisquillo said. “I developed something in my eyes from a former business in the tanning industry.”

Carrisquillo was diagnosed with macular degeneration and advanced cataracts in 2010.

“My doctor didn't really know where it was coming from and said that he would advise me to stay away from aerosol paints, Carraquillo said. “That's really when I started to turn my efforts towards music more than the visual arts.”

Therapist Michael Goodman met Carrasquillo at a drum circle in Florida and said they hit it off right away. Goodman had a hand-drumming publication at the time with a 5,000-reader circulation. Goodman said he was always being asked by different organization for help finding someone who could lead drum circles and would recommend Carrasquillo.

“He was so good with everybody,” Goodman said. “He'd get everybody to sit down and play together, to learn how to connect and coordinate and listen for one another.”

Carrisquillo worked with many senior programs and music therapy programs around southern Florida before deciding to move to Hendersonville.

While Carrasquillo was teaching a pottery class at Fired-up, he met Scott Talbert. The two started talking and Talbert noticed the collection of instruments Carrasquillo had with him. Carrasquillo said he made the drums, but was looking for a place to work on them.

Talbert invited Carrasquillo over to his woodshop, where Carrasquillo was able to show Talbert how the drums were made. Talbert has since let Carrasquillo have free reign of his woodshop to make his TMF drums.

“Outside of the personal touch, he can customize a drum from sound and texture; everything about it is custom as opposed to drums that are mass-produced,” Powers said. “The look and the feel are totally different; there's a lot more to a drum if it's personalized to you than if you bought it off of the shelf.”

Playing one of Carrasquillo's cajóns is not like playing other drums, according to Emerald Lotus owner Lori Fothergill.

“It didn't matter what spot you hit it on the drum, no matter where you hit it, it gave a different sound, and you never got the same sound twice,” Fothergill said. “It gave the experience of every individual creating their own music and that no one of his drums will be exactly the same for every person.”

Carrasquillo's TMF drums can be found at Tempo music center on Main Street.

<p>More than a dozen years after Ed Carrasquillo saw his first drum circle, the local has artist decided to turn his hobby of making the instruments into a business.</p><p>“I came to a point where I realized I had a better opportunity working for myself than I would to try to get a job at 52 anywhere in the state, so I went full strum into (Tribalscapes Music Factory) drums,” Carrasquillo said.</p><p>TMF specializes in making cajóns and hand drums. The cajón is a Peruvian wooden box drum in which the player sits on the drum while playing.</p><p>Carrasquillo has been very active in the hand-drumming community since 2000, when a friend invited him to his first drum circle in Florida.</p><p>“For me it was really more like a spiritual event and I felt very, very comfortable there,” Carrasquillo said.</p><p>After the drum circle, he ordered his first drum online from Ghana and has been experimenting with the instruments ever since. </p><p>Carrasquillo has an extensive background in art and lived as a performance artist for 15 years. He toured his show “The dreamscapes experience” around Florida and spent a few months preforming in Las Vegas. During the show he would paint celestial scenes in front of an audience while playing music.</p><p>His transition from the world of art to music came from an unexpected diagnosis while he was still preforming.</p><p>“I started to go blind basically,” Carrisquillo said. “I developed something in my eyes from a former business in the tanning industry.”</p><p>Carrisquillo was diagnosed with macular degeneration and advanced cataracts in 2010.</p><p>“My doctor didn't really know where it was coming from and said that he would advise me to stay away from aerosol paints, Carraquillo said. “That's really when I started to turn my efforts towards music more than the visual arts.”</p><p>Therapist Michael Goodman met Carrasquillo at a drum circle in Florida and said they hit it off right away. Goodman had a hand-drumming publication at the time with a 5,000-reader circulation. Goodman said he was always being asked by different organization for help finding someone who could lead drum circles and would recommend Carrasquillo.</p><p>“He was so good with everybody,” Goodman said. “He'd get everybody to sit down and play together, to learn how to connect and coordinate and listen for one another.”</p><p>Carrisquillo worked with many senior programs and music therapy programs around southern Florida before deciding to move to Hendersonville. </p><p>While Carrasquillo was teaching a pottery class at Fired-up, he met Scott Talbert. The two started talking and Talbert noticed the collection of instruments Carrasquillo had with him. Carrasquillo said he made the drums, but was looking for a place to work on them.</p><p>Talbert invited Carrasquillo over to his woodshop, where Carrasquillo was able to show Talbert how the drums were made. Talbert has since let Carrasquillo have free reign of his woodshop to make his TMF drums.</p><p>“He's an incredible artist, as friendly as they come and diversely talented,” Talbert said. “I think he's got something for everybody.”</p><p>Fellow musician John Powers said he admires Carrasquillo's drums.</p><p>“Outside of the personal touch, he can customize a drum from sound and texture; everything about it is custom as opposed to drums that are mass-produced,” Powers said. “The look and the feel are totally different; there's a lot more to a drum if it's personalized to you than if you bought it off of the shelf.”</p><p>Playing one of Carrasquillo's cajóns is not like playing other drums, according to Emerald Lotus owner Lori Fothergill.</p><p>“It didn't matter what spot you hit it on the drum, no matter where you hit it, it gave a different sound, and you never got the same sound twice,” Fothergill said. “It gave the experience of every individual creating their own music and that no one of his drums will be exactly the same for every person.”</p><p>Carrasquillo's TMF drums can be found at Tempo music center on Main Street.</p>